Question

You are excavating a Native American human burial site which contains both males and females. After obtaining permission from current Native American tribes believed to have descended from these people, you analyze the bones. You notice a higher rate of osteoarthritis in the lumber vertebrae of the female skeletons in comparison to the male skeletons. What might you conclude from this evidence?

Answer 1

Osteoarthritis in the lumber vertebrae is caused due to degenerative disorder or due to injury in the backbone/cartilage. The high rate of lumber vertebrae osteoarthritis indicates the presence of genetic disorder only, which means the Native American tribes carried a gene for this disorder, which was only expressed in the female offsprings.